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Federal grant to help laid off Oshkosh Corp. workers

The Fox Valley Workforce Development Board, United Auto Workers Local 578 and Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development will use a $471,000 grant to help more than 200 Oshkosh Corp. employees who were laid off this summer.

The Fox Valley Workforce Development Board, United Auto Workers Local 578 and Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development will use a $471,000 grant to help more than 200 Oshkosh Corp. employees who were laid off this summer.

The U.S. Department of Labor awarded a two-year, $471,629 National Emergency Grant to the workforce development board to provide retraining, re-employment and job seeking services for about 230 of the 536 production employees laid off this summer.

Workforce Development Board Chief Operating Officer Al Hesse said the grant will pay for staff, existing programs and support services funds for individuals who qualify for various retraining or re-employment services.

"Sometimes we find an individual just needs a course or two and that puts something fresh on the resume while giving the employee more confidence going into the interview," Hesse said.

The workforce development board and United Auto Workers will collaborate under the grant to establish a transition center that offers re-employment services in the union's Oregon Street hall, as well.

Announced in April, the layoff was the second significant workforce reduction at Oshkosh Corp. in two years. The company's defense division slashed its workforce significantly as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wound down and international sales failed to pick up the slack.

Layoffs in 2013 led the Department of Defense to award the region an $835,000 grant to map supply chains and help the community develop tools to diversify its economy.